Device for making impressions.



(No Model.)

Patented July 29, I902.

IJ.- L. FALABDEAU. DEVICE FOR MAIQNG IMPRESSIONS.

(Application filed June 6, 190 1.)

in uenboz Fa/arieqqa UNITED -STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE;

DENNIS L. FALARDEAU, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

DEVICE FOR MAKING IMPRESSIONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part a Letters Patent No. 795,831, dated July 29, 1902.

Application filed Mile 6, 1901. Serial No. 63,447. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DENNIS L. FALARDEAU, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Making Impressions and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 1

This invention relates to a device for makin g impressions of the exact sizes, shapes, and surface configurations of keys, coins, and other objects for duplication and other purposes, and is designed primarily to provide means whereby a person may make impressions of the keys carried or usedby himupon slips of paper or other flexible material or upon the pages of a note-book or a book provided especially for the purpose, so that in the event of the loss of a key the impression will serve as a record which will readily enable a locksmith to make a duplicate of the lost key, or, incase this is impracticable, will enable the interested party to order a duplicate key from the manufactureix The object of the invention is to provide a press by means of which this work may be easily,'speedily, and effectively performed.

In the production of a device of this character which will act efficiently and cause the formation on the record-slips at one operation of clear impressions of both sides or surfaces of the key or article it is essential that the platens or impression-surfaces of the press employed be cushioned or be made" of some naturalelasticor cushioning material; and to this end I provide and the invention consists,

essentially, of a press having opposing jaws and cushioned platens or impression-surfaces formed or provided upon the meeting faces of said jaws, between which the record-slip and the article from which the impression is to be made are placed,whereby when the jaws are brought together the yieldingact-ion of the platens will prevent breaking or bending of said article and at the same time will permit the paper to readily conform to the shape of the article to make a perfect impression.

The invention further consists of certain novel features of construction, combination,

and arrangement of parts, as will be herein after more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of press embodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View, on an enlarged scale, of the jaws thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 are end and side elevations of a modified form of press. Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views disclosing further modilications, and Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the impressions of a key made upon the recordslip.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 represent the fixed and movable jaws of the impressionpress, which are provided upon their meeting or opposing faces with platens 3 and 4:,c0nstructed in any approved manner,so as to yield and exert a cushioning action under the pressure of the jaws when the latter are operated to form the impression of the desired article. The platens may be made of some rigid or partly-rigid material backed by cushionsor resilient material or devices of any desired kind; but in order to simplify the construction I preferably employ padlike comparatively thick platens made partially or wholly of felt, rubber, or some other suitable elastic material or a composite structure of both. These platens should be a quarter of an inch (more or less)in thickness or of such thickness as will allow the key or other object and the material on which the impression is to be made to sink therein, so as to avoid injury to the key under pressure, and so that a faithful reproduction may be made by allowing the said material to have in1- pressed therein a facsimile of the surface configuration of the key and to closely conform to such surface, so as to effect a clear and unbroken'transfer of the ink therefrom.

This is the gist of my invention. From the base or iixed jaw 1 of the press rise screw- I threaded shankso, which carry wing-nuts 6,

the upper surface of the jaw 2 is arranged a cover or housing 7, which incloses a block or plate 8, carrying upon its upper surface a sharpening-stone 9, upon which small tools may be sharpened, pencils pointed, and the rough or saw edges of pens ground down to a smooth surface. The underside of said block or plate 8 and the opposing face of the jaw 2 carry ink-pads 11 and 12, by which the surfaces of the article of which the impression is to be made are inked before said article is placed in the press. The block or plate 8 is independent of the press and may be readily applied and removed upon the detachment of the housing or cover 7. The cover is adapted to frictionally engage cleats 7 upon the upper surface of the jaw 2, whereby it is held in place. The pad 11 is fixed to the plate 8 and the pad 12 fixed to the jaw 2.

The record strip or slip 13 on which the impression of the article is to be made may be formed of paper, cloth, or any other suitable material and is folded or doubled upon itself or formed of two pieces of paper suitably connected to provide opposing sheets, uponwhich impressions of two sides of the key or other article are to be made.

In taking the impression of a key or similar article the cover 7 is removed, the block 8 lifted, the key or article laid upon the pad 12, and the block 8 then forced gently down by hand to exert sufficient pressure upon the inking-pads 11 and 12 to ink both sides or faces of the key. The key is then placed between the. two leaves or sheets of the record slip or strip and the slip, with the key thus arranged, placed between the platens 3 and 4 of the jaws '1 and 2 and the wing-nut-s screwed down upon the shanks 5 to close the jaw 2 and to force the said platens 3 and 4: toward each other. Under the pressure exerted by the jaw 2 the platens 3 and 4, being in the nature of pads of the requisite thickness, will yield or exert a cushioning action and preventbreakage of the key, while forcing the leaves or sheets of the record-strip so closely in contact with the key as to cause an impression of the key, with all its peculiarities of form and construction, to be indented into said leaves or sheets and the ink from the key to be transferred thereto to form an exact printed representation of the key. Also by making the platens 3 and 40f cushioned or elastic material and of some thickness to yield a proper distance the paper is allowed to conform to the shape of the key and to follow the minute curvatures, irregularities of the surface, and embossed and recessed orindented portions of the key,so as to present a faithful printed reproduction thereof, including the name of the manufacturer, the number of the key, or any other matter which maybe imprinted thereon. The recordslip may then be filed away for preservation, and in the event that the key should be lost, mislaid, or stolen the record strip may be used as a form or pattern from which a locksmith may make a duplicate ofthe' key, or, in case this is impracticable, the record-slip will enable the interested party to order a duplicate key from the manufacturer.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the base or fixed jaw 1 has formed integrally therewith an arm or gooseneck 13, having a screw=threaded eye 14 for the reception of a screw-shaft 15, which is swiveled to the movable jaw 2 and is provided with a handle 16,'whereby it maybe adjusted to move the jaw 2 toward and from the fixed jaw 1.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 5 an open-ended box or casing 17, which may be of convenient size to serve as a paper-weight, is employed to receive the movable jaw 2, and the fixed jaw 1 is formed by the bottom of said casing. The screwshaft used in adjusting the movable jaw in thisembodiment of the invention is similar in construction to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and works in a threaded nut 18,-mounted in the top of said casing 17. The upper face or surface of the jaw 2 in this construction is preferably grooved, as shown at 19, to serve as a pen and pencil rack.

Fig. 6 of the drawings shows a modified form of the invention adapted to be conveu iently carried about in the pocket, and in this construction the jaws 1 and 2 are formed by the intermediate leaf and one of the covers of a book-like device, the other cover 20 of which carries one of the inking-pads 11,while the intermediate leaf 21 carries the inkingpad 12. These parts are hinged together so as to open and close and are provided with suitable fastenings for holding them in closed condition. The cover portions 2 and 20 and the frame of the jaw 1, constituting the intermediate leaf, are formed of somesuitable rigid or semi-inflexible material, while platens 3 and 4 upon the opposing faces of the parts 1 and 2 are made of rubber or some other suitable cushioning or resilient material, as heretofore described. The mode of use of this embodiment of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that the invention provides a simple and efficient form of apparatus by means of whichimpressions of forms, physical characteristics of keys, coins, and other objects may be readily and conveniently made, and by its use a record may be kept of the exact appearance of all articles of more or less value liable to become lost or stolen and a record-slip provided which may be used for purposes of reproduction or iden tification.

I do not limit the invention in use to the production of impressions of keys alone, as it may be employed for making impressions of various other objects.

ing of the opposite jaws carrying the elastic cushions, said cushions having a thickness suificient to receive the thickness of or encompass the object of which the impression is to be taken, and means for forcing said jaws together, substantially as specified.

2. A device for taking impressions of keys,

consisting of the opposite jaws carrying the cushions of rubber or the like, said cushions being of a thickness suflicient to receive the thickness of the key, and means for forcing said jaws together, substantially as specified.

3. A device for makingimpressions of keys and other rigid objects, having three leaves .or jaws, the intermediate jaw and one of the outer jaws being provided upon their meeting-faces with cushioned pad-like platens, and the opposite face of the intermediate jaw and the opposing face of the other outer jaw being provided with inking-pads, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DENNIS L. FALARDEAU.

Witnesses:

GILBERT F. SMITH, NELsoN ARES. 

